Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an etching method for etching a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer by using a plasma formed by dissociating a fluorine-based stable gas.
Description of the Related Art
When a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is ground by a grinding apparatus, any grinding damage is left on the ground surface (work surface) of the workpiece, causing a reduction in die strength of the workpiece. To cope with this problem, there has been proposed a grinding system configured by incorporating an etching apparatus in the grinding apparatus (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-353676, for example). In this grinding system, a series of operations from grinding to etching of the workpiece is automatically performed, wherein the workpiece after grinding is loaded to the etching apparatus and the ground surface of the workpiece is subjected to plasma etching to attain a mirror finish, thereby removing any grinding damage left on the workpiece after grinding.